i am trying to decide what motor to put in my truck. i have narrowed it down to either stroking the 400 that is in the truck now to a 434, dropping in a 460 or a stroking a 460 to a 514. i was just wondering what are the good and bad about each engine? What area does each excel in? (pulling, mud etc.) if anyone has any Dyno specs could you pust them up? The truck is my 78 F250 SuperCab 4x4 btw...

Thanks,
Justin.

 

Wow, those are quite some options to have! What are you going to be doing with the truck is the most important question?

 

If it were me I'd go 514 as first choice. Then 460. I don't care for the 335 series and I'll leave it at that.

 

the truck is going to do some truck pulls in the street legal class and i would like to be able to drive it on the street but milage doesnt matter to me....would the 434 be best for pulling because it has the longest stroke of the 3? the truck will haul alot in the bed as well....

 

So you're looking for bone crushing torque. Well as much as I would love to recommend a 434, I wouldn't go with it just based on the stroke. It's like a 4.2-4.25 inch stroke compared to a 4.15 for a 514. That tenth of an inch or less is outweighed by the 80 extra cubes doing the pushing. That's not to say don't go 434 though, I'm just saying don't just run to it solely based on stroke.

I'd count the 460 out here, just because the 514 is just such a better 460 for your application.

Beyond that I can't say. I know that around the 3000$ mark you can completely rebuild a 400 with 2V closed chamber Aussie heads and flat top pistons for a CR around 10.5, and get 500 ft lbs or more. Obviously a stroked 400 would only give you more on the torque front. I don't know what a 3-4000$ 514 build could do, but I'd say find that out, compare to 5-600 ft lbs from a 434, and go.

AleX

 

Now I'm an advocate for the 335 series, and have proven with different builds I've done that when comparing apples to apples, a 400 can be comparable to a 460. That being said, when you start talking strokers, 460 is the only way to go. To do up a 434 right, you're talking $5-7500 just in parts, and peak power is gonna be made super high in the rpm range. To do up a 521, you should be able to do it for under $3500, and make better numbers at lower r's. Not to mention, you still have massive potential with the 460/521, a 434 is about the top when it comes to 400's (although Barnett offers some wild stuff, but not for street use). Absolutely not contest when it comes to a 521 vs. 434...you gotta go 521.

 

I've got a 434 in Buford, so obviously I'm going to be somewhat biased here. In my particular case, I wanted a 434 that had streetable manners, good vacuum for accessories, but still wrung as much power out as possible. The combo that Tim Meyer and I came up with ended up with dyno numbers of 504hp/544tq. Now, I haven't been able to get Buford finished (wiring, interior, etc. to go still), but I figured that'd be plenty for my uses. I have to agree with 704 though....getting it built correctly was nowhere near cheap. The plant ended up costing right at about $13k, so obviously it's not something I'm going to be beating on just for giggles.

That being said, I'd say for your uses the 514 is the way to go.....you're going to get a stump puller that'll probably cost less to build than the 400. I agree...Barnett does produce some 400 based stuff that's extreme, but between cost, and lack of longevity of the plants, I'm not sure that'd be the best way to go. The 434 should last plenty long enough, but if you're going for all out grunt, and don't care about gas....go as big as your wallet will allow.

(I know...I didn't just side with my own engine...but my reasons for a 434 versus his are different...for me, it made a lot more sense).

 

Dang just realized he was saying 514 the whole time, and I was saying 521. Only difference is a .030 bore job, something you probably wanna do anyway for the $300 it'll cost you to know you have clean cylinder walls. A word from the wise, whatever engine you use, pop a head and check the piston. Should have a number on the piston top if it's already been bored, this will prevent you from ordering the wrong sized pistons or prevent you from trying to use a block that's already .060 over. I've been bit by that a couple times, ordered the pistons before I even cracked the engine open. Once to find an already .030 bored 400, just returned the pistons and went .040...and once to find a 460 that was already .060 over, decided to junk the block instead of sleeving and that cost me $500 for a supposed 'never been touched, all orginal, low mile 460'.

 

I'm with him. ****ing bragging rights go along way.

You're not worried about fuel economy are you?

 

But think about how much more bragging you can do when you dominate with an engine that nobody wants and giving up cubes. I must say, most guys are surprised and impressed with how well my 400's run...and they're not even high dollar engines, most expensive build is right at $2500.

 

fuel economy inst important to me in decining what engine to go with but it would be a plus....
but im guessing the 434 would get better milage than a 514?

does anyone have any Dyno numbers for these motors?

 

Well, I said what the peak dyno numbers were for my 434, but it would seem you weren't reading. That being the case, I dug up the dyno results on my engine. Here you go.

 

thanks for the info!
i must have missed the numbers the 1st time...

anyone got any numbers on a 514?

 

Interesting... I've been planning a 514 or 521 for my street racer, since i have a (as far as i know) untouched 460 in the truck now, lots of poential in its first rebuild, and the bonus of it'll bolt directly back without mount/accessory changes is a big plus.

But then, since i have a 351m that i want to stroke to 400, I had wondered how far you can go with a 400. Never heard of a 434... Too bad it looks like its the expensive option, I'd love to be able to do it just for the bragging rights of that much power out of an 335!

G.

 

That's kind of why I did mine....the bragging rights are nice, but I'm going for the confused "RCA Victor dog" look when guys look under the hood of my truck at the little car shows, and start counting valve cover bolts. I'll just be sitting in a lawn chair behind the truck waiting for it, and eventually I'll see the look....."A 400?....Someone went and built a 400 for a hotrod truck?....Who the heck builds a 400???". That's about the time I'll be smiling, enjoying the show.

The other reason is more simplistic...a 79 4x4 didn't come with anything bigger than a 400, so I wanted to kind of stick to the original format of the truck. I know, that's retarded considering everything else I've done to Buford, but it was my rationale at the time. That, and I just wanted to take the road less traveled....460's are all over the place, but a built 335 series is just a little weird (which fits me just fine).